British Birds - Geese

Most of the birds that winter here come from Scandinavia but what type of geese are they? Question 5 will tell you more

British Birds - Geese

The term 'goose' applies to the female in particular while 'gander' applies to the male in particular. Young birds before fledging are called goslings. A group of geese on the ground is called a gaggle; when geese fly in formation, they are called a wedge or a skein.

Which of these options do you prefer?

  1. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of http://www.naturespicsonline.com/
    • Group: Ducks, Geese and Swans
    • Binomial: Branta canadensis
    • Order: Anseriformes
    • Family: Anatidae
    • Status: Resident Introduced Population, Some Wild Vagrants
    • It forms noisy flocks.
    • Adult geese are often seen leading their goslings in a line, usually with one parent at the front and the other at the back.

  2. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of MPF
    • Group: Ducks, Geese and Swans
    • Binomial: Anser brachyrhynchus
    • Order: Anseriformes
    • Family: Anatidae
    • Status: Winter Visitor
    • Large numbers of birds spend the winter here, arriving from their breeding grounds in Spitsbergen and Iceland.
    • Nesting is often on cliffs close to glaciers to provide protection from mammalian predators.

  3. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of http://photo-natur.de/
    • Group: Ducks, Geese and Swans
    • Binomial: Alopochen aegyptiaca
    • Order: Anseriformes
    • Family: Anatidae
    • Status: Resident Introduced Population
    • It was introduced as an ornamental wildfowl species and has escaped into the wild, now successfully breeding in a feral state.
    • It is found mainly in East Anglia, in parkland with lakes.

  4. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Walter Siegmund
    • Group: Ducks, Geese and Swans
    • Binomial: Anser caerulescens
    • Order: Anseriformes
    • Family: Anatidae
    • Status: Resident Introduced Population, Some Wild Vagrants
    • When choosing a mate, young birds will most often select a mate that resembles their parents' colouring.
    • If the birds were hatched into a mixed pair, they will mate with either colour.

  5. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Adrian Pingstone
    • Group: Ducks, Geese and Swans
    • Binomial: Anser fabalis
    • Order: Anseriformes
    • Family: Anatidae
    • Status: Winter Visitor
    • Most of the birds that winter here come from Scandinavia.
    • The best place in Britain to see them is the Yare Valley in Norfolk, which includes the RSPB's Mid-Yare nature reserves.

  6. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Diliff
    • Group: Ducks, Geese and Swans
    • Binomial: Anser anser
    • Order: Anseriformes
    • Family: Anatidae
    • Status: Resident Wild And Feral Populations, Winter Visitor
    • The ancestor of most domestic geese, this is the largest and bulkiest of the wild geese native to the UK and Europe.
    • Sometimes seen in suburban parks with lakes.

  7. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Adrian Pingstone
    • Group: Ducks, Geese and Swans
    • Binomial: Branta ruficollis
    • Order: Anseriformes
    • Family: Anatidae
    • Status: Rare Vagrant
    • Breeds in Arctic Europe, often close to nests of large birds of prey.
    • This helps to protect this small goose from predators such as the Arctic Fox.
    • While wintering, the red-breasted goose feeds on grasses, leafs and seeds.

  8. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Jerry Segraves
    • Group: Ducks, Geese and Swans
    • Binomial: Anser albifrons
    • Order: Anseriformes
    • Family: Anatidae
    • Status: Winter Visitor
    • Weather conditions are a key factor in the breeding success of these geese.
    • In the Arctic, the window of opportunity for nesting, incubating eggs and raising a brood to flight state is open briefly, for about three months.

  9. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of Andrey
    • Group: Ducks, Geese and Swans
    • Binomial: Branta leucopsis
    • Order: Anseriformes
    • Family: Anatidae
    • Status: Winter Visitor
    • A medium-sized, sociable goose.
    • It flies in packs and long lines, with a noisy chorus of yapping sounds.
    • The natural history of this goose was long surrounded with a legend claiming that they were born of driftwood.

  10. What is the name of this bird?

    Photograph courtesy of http://photo-natur.de/
    • Group: Ducks, Geese and Swans
    • Binomial: Branta bernicla
    • Order: Anseriformes
    • Family: Anatidae
    • Status: Winter Visitor
    • In the breeding season, it uses low-lying wet coastal tundra for both breeding and feeding.
    • The nest is bowl-shaped, lined with grass and down, in an elevated location, often in a small pond.
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